Weekly Wide Web

What I've Learned

After 672 days at the Web Producer desk here at the Tucson Weekly, I'll be moving on to a new opportunity as of Aug. 14.

If you're stifling a yawn right now, I don't blame you. In the online age, people come and go from media positions all the time, and while there will probably be far less Insane Clown Posse coverage on The Range after I'm gone, someone will take my place. Life goes on.

However, I do need a frame for this column's premise, so here are two things I've learned over nearly 2,500 blog posts and a little more than a year and a half:

• People in Tucson really care about local news personalities. I may never fully understand this phenomenon, but the second- and fifth-most-commented-on stories in my time here (after my post about Jared Loughner on the day of the Tucson shooting)? Two posts about Martha Vazquez's shoplifting incident. No. 6? A post regarding Chuck George's strange on-air incident and his subsequent leave of absence. I don't get it.

• Christians on the Internet, as a group, are remarkably susceptible to arguments. The third-most-commented-on story? A post about a Christian attempt to remake Halloween as a Jesus-themed observance. It still sounds ridiculous, and I still have no idea why seemingly intelligent people of faith would feel the need to defend it, but they did, in droves, frequently questioning the state of my soul.

My fellow Christians of the Internet: If you want people to take you seriously, calm down a bit. Some things deserve to be called out as the terrible ideas they are.

As he wraps up his time as a Tucson Weekly employee Dan Gibson will recap a few of his favorite online moments this week and tie up some loose ends as well, including the case of the little-people roadside tamale stand that might be a figment of his imagination. Also, this is the last week for some of our summer interns, so look for their posts incorporating all that they've learned over the last few months. So much change around here! You'll have to pardon us if we have trouble typing through the tears.